Journey to Break 85
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #502
Yeah, practice is where I play well though. Sucking sucks period.
Hahahah, man, I took some turf this weekend. Lot's o turf.
Hahahah, man, I took some turf this weekend. Lot's o turf.
MattyKrack17
MattyCaulk AkA DigDug
I had a chance but blew it, had 7 pars , but had 3 7s that killed my round, but I feel like I'm getting a lot closer
I tapatalk better then I golfatalk
I tapatalk better then I golfatalk
- Staff
- #504
Lesson this afternoon and I'm excited/nervous at the same time. Excited because I think it will be a great thing in the long run, but a bit nervous about it working, if that makes sense. Hoping the pro and I mesh well and he can help.
GG's thread really has me inspired to do this, though. I think I'm going to skip playing on lesson weeks and just hit the range to practice. Mainly since the lesson is a bit more than I'd spend on a round of golf, but also b/c I want to ingrain any changes he makes before I go out on the course and forget them heh.
GG's thread really has me inspired to do this, though. I think I'm going to skip playing on lesson weeks and just hit the range to practice. Mainly since the lesson is a bit more than I'd spend on a round of golf, but also b/c I want to ingrain any changes he makes before I go out on the course and forget them heh.
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #505
Great idea Hawk. It only takes a 1000 times before it becomes a habit 
Well that's what I heard. Either way, best of luck to you buddy.
Well that's what I heard. Either way, best of luck to you buddy.
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #506
Man I'm sucking at multiquote lately..
Thats great man. Those 7's will start coming off before you know it. If you can almost taste it, itll come sooner than you know it.
Thats great man. Those 7's will start coming off before you know it. If you can almost taste it, itll come sooner than you know it.
- Staff
- #508
Great idea Hawk. It only takes a 1000 times before it becomes a habit
In that case, I'm going to hit 1000 balls after my lesson today.
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #509
mikedean441
6X HOF
the ol touchdowns with extra points usually get me too
- Staff
- #511
Well, that was pretty fun and enlightening. This is a super long post and much of it is written so I remember it next week. No need to read if you would rather not.
The good news: My swing isn't so bad Many of the things I was worried about were actually not bad at all.
The bad news (sort of): Reverse Pivot
We started off talking about where I was with the game. I told him this was my second full season, I was able to get below 100 last year, and this year my goal was to be a mid-80's golfer. We talked about my normal ball flight and my misses (fat/thin/OTT) and that I was looking to gain consistency and maybe a bit more distance.
I took a few swings with the 8 iron and hit my full range of shots. Some decent, some fatties, some thins, and some off to the right. I was glad to have hit them all so he could see what was going on. First thing we adjusted was my grip. I was taking the 'in your fingers' thing too far and was losing control of the club he said. It felt weird, but that's probably a good thing.
Anyway, he stopped me after some swings and said that he saw a pretty glaring issue that was causing the fatties/thins. The old reverse pivot. He explained I wasn't getting my weight to my back foot and helped me feel how to do it. It all made a bunch of sense. I've often wondered why it felt like I was stacking weight on my left foot. Well stupid, that's because you are. His explanation was really good as to why this was causing my inconsistency. Basically, it was a crapshoot. I could get my timing perfect and hit some good balls, but more likely I was going to hit the ball thin or fat.
We worked on getting my left shoulder over my right knee and feeling like I was coiling a bit more. After a couple practice swings I was hitting some very nice balls. Very high and decent distance. He explained the meaning of getting behind the ball. Also hit some poor shots. Almost to the point of S-words. He made sure I realized that I wasn't there to hit good balls today.I was there to swing the club right and then just put the ball in front of it. One thing I noticed was that I was better at shifting my weight in practice swings with no pressure to hit the ball. I incorporated that into a set up routine. One practice swing to feel the weight shift and then a real swing. That seemed to help a lot.
He said that my hands had a tendency to get stuck behind my lower body (too slow). He gave me a drill to work on that. I took my right foot and put it behind my left. Almost in the position it would be for my finish (toe down). He asked me to hit some balls with my upper body to get the feeling of getting through the shot. Cha-ching! That was like a little light bulb going off. I hit some of the best little shots without any lower body movement at all. A bit shorter, but I could play that way any day hehe. Combining both together produced some great shots. Easily as far as I've hit it in a long while.
Next up, we talked about a little bit of a chicken wing I had going on. Not severe, and he felt that it could easily be fixed. He helped me see that I wanted my arms a bit straighter coming out of the swing and said that I had a nice follow through, but it needed a little tweak. His solution for that was pretty easy. Get my left arm in closer to my body. Told me to hold a headcover there and take some short shots to feel it. One thing I noticed was that all of a sudden, I was releasing and the ball was drawing a bit. Hmmmmm.
After that, I asked him a few things about my set up. Surprisingly, he felt that mine was very good. He also felt my move back was good, aside from not getting the weight shifted. Never said a thing about wrists, which really made me happy. Just to concentrate on getting my left shoulder over the right knee and to swing the club. We talked ball position, which was pretty close to good, though he thought I was about a 1/2 to full ball back to far.
Lastly, he had me take some driver swings. I took my 'new' swing to the ball and hit two beautiful Hawk fades that were high and normal distance. He thought it was good, but to work on the release/keeping the arms close to the body. Next swing was sort of a low draw that was probably the longest drive I've hit all year. It felt different, looked different. Wasn't the prettiest shot I've seen, but it was in the right direction. I don't care if I draw or fade. I just want to hit the ball good and this one was hit real good.
It's going to take some work as I noticed that it was easy to slip back into the bad habits. I hit some shots after he left and they sucked. Took some practice swings, relaxed, and walked out a bit to grab a few stray balls. It all sort of came together and I hit some awesome shots to finish strong.
The plan is that I'm not going to play this weekend. I don't want to hit a few shots and revert to my old ways. Range time and lots of it. According to him, the things that I have going for me are easily good enough to make my goal happen if I work on what we talked about. That was extremely inspiring to hear.
Plan to take one of these every two weeks for awhile and not play those weeks. Really, really happy I did this tonight. I'm never happy with average, much less below average. I can get my way around a golf course, but that's not the player I want to be.
The good news: My swing isn't so bad
Many of the things I was worried about were actually not bad at all.The bad news (sort of): Reverse Pivot
We started off talking about where I was with the game. I told him this was my second full season, I was able to get below 100 last year, and this year my goal was to be a mid-80's golfer. We talked about my normal ball flight and my misses (fat/thin/OTT) and that I was looking to gain consistency and maybe a bit more distance.
I took a few swings with the 8 iron and hit my full range of shots. Some decent, some fatties, some thins, and some off to the right. I was glad to have hit them all so he could see what was going on. First thing we adjusted was my grip. I was taking the 'in your fingers' thing too far and was losing control of the club he said. It felt weird, but that's probably a good thing.
Anyway, he stopped me after some swings and said that he saw a pretty glaring issue that was causing the fatties/thins. The old reverse pivot. He explained I wasn't getting my weight to my back foot and helped me feel how to do it. It all made a bunch of sense. I've often wondered why it felt like I was stacking weight on my left foot. Well stupid, that's because you are. His explanation was really good as to why this was causing my inconsistency. Basically, it was a crapshoot. I could get my timing perfect and hit some good balls, but more likely I was going to hit the ball thin or fat.
We worked on getting my left shoulder over my right knee and feeling like I was coiling a bit more. After a couple practice swings I was hitting some very nice balls. Very high and decent distance. He explained the meaning of getting behind the ball. Also hit some poor shots. Almost to the point of S-words. He made sure I realized that I wasn't there to hit good balls today.I was there to swing the club right and then just put the ball in front of it. One thing I noticed was that I was better at shifting my weight in practice swings with no pressure to hit the ball. I incorporated that into a set up routine. One practice swing to feel the weight shift and then a real swing. That seemed to help a lot.
He said that my hands had a tendency to get stuck behind my lower body (too slow). He gave me a drill to work on that. I took my right foot and put it behind my left. Almost in the position it would be for my finish (toe down). He asked me to hit some balls with my upper body to get the feeling of getting through the shot. Cha-ching! That was like a little light bulb going off. I hit some of the best little shots without any lower body movement at all. A bit shorter, but I could play that way any day hehe. Combining both together produced some great shots. Easily as far as I've hit it in a long while.
Next up, we talked about a little bit of a chicken wing I had going on. Not severe, and he felt that it could easily be fixed. He helped me see that I wanted my arms a bit straighter coming out of the swing and said that I had a nice follow through, but it needed a little tweak. His solution for that was pretty easy. Get my left arm in closer to my body. Told me to hold a headcover there and take some short shots to feel it. One thing I noticed was that all of a sudden, I was releasing and the ball was drawing a bit. Hmmmmm.
After that, I asked him a few things about my set up. Surprisingly, he felt that mine was very good. He also felt my move back was good, aside from not getting the weight shifted. Never said a thing about wrists, which really made me happy. Just to concentrate on getting my left shoulder over the right knee and to swing the club. We talked ball position, which was pretty close to good, though he thought I was about a 1/2 to full ball back to far.
Lastly, he had me take some driver swings. I took my 'new' swing to the ball and hit two beautiful Hawk fades that were high and normal distance. He thought it was good, but to work on the release/keeping the arms close to the body. Next swing was sort of a low draw that was probably the longest drive I've hit all year. It felt different, looked different. Wasn't the prettiest shot I've seen, but it was in the right direction. I don't care if I draw or fade. I just want to hit the ball good and this one was hit real good.
It's going to take some work as I noticed that it was easy to slip back into the bad habits. I hit some shots after he left and they sucked. Took some practice swings, relaxed, and walked out a bit to grab a few stray balls. It all sort of came together and I hit some awesome shots to finish strong.
The plan is that I'm not going to play this weekend. I don't want to hit a few shots and revert to my old ways. Range time and lots of it. According to him, the things that I have going for me are easily good enough to make my goal happen if I work on what we talked about. That was extremely inspiring to hear.
Plan to take one of these every two weeks for awhile and not play those weeks. Really, really happy I did this tonight. I'm never happy with average, much less below average. I can get my way around a golf course, but that's not the player I want to be.
Wow, good idea writing it down. I just read all that and I already forgot some of the stuff he taught you.
But in all seriousness, I like it. Sounds like you had a very productive lesson. Keep up the good work and keep us posted about your progress and future lessons.
But in all seriousness, I like it. Sounds like you had a very productive lesson. Keep up the good work and keep us posted about your progress and future lessons.
- Staff
- #513
Thanks, Rock.
In reality, I wrote much more than there really was to it, which I liked. I came away with four simple thoughts.
1. Weight Shift
2. Drill to get upper body through
3. Grip
4. Arms closer to body on downswing
In reality, I wrote much more than there really was to it, which I liked. I came away with four simple thoughts.
1. Weight Shift
2. Drill to get upper body through
3. Grip
4. Arms closer to body on downswing
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #515
Damn Hawk thank you for writing all of that down! Sounds like you came away with a lot. Look forward to following your progress buddy.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
- Staff
- #516
I'm not going to lie and say that it won't be tough. Still, I just don't think there's a point. I know how easy it is to revert back to things that have worked in the past. The fact is that they worked enough to get me to a point that I want to get away from.
The nice thing is that I'm not really changing much at all. Just making sure I do a couple things correctly.
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #517
That's the best kind of swing medicine. The less complicated the better.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
- Staff
- #518
Went back to the range tonight since the info from yesterday was still somewhat fresh in my mind. I spent quite a bit of time with each club, which is a little different than my normal routine. My reason for that is that I'm trying to work on the swing with each more that trying to be able to hit each of them on the fly.
Started off easy and hit the 8 iron again. It was surprisingly easy to get into a groove and I was hitting many more good shots tonight. Distance was consistent and I was all over the pin I was aiming at.
Moved down from there to my 50° wedge. It took me a few swings to get it right, but I was hitting it an easy 5 yards longer and ball flight was just beautiful. Again, very predictable and get great accuracy.
From there I decided to go to my 6 iron. Hit some leakers to the right at first, which is a normal miss. Took some breaths and practice swings and made sure I was set up correctly. All of a sudden, it just came alive. I was hitting it good. Really good! That's a really good sign, because my consistency with the 6 iron is spotty. My goal is consistency.
Hit the Maruman 3W after that off the turf. I was somewhat amazed that I was hitting it clean almost every time. At first had some swing path/face angle issues, but that wasn't a hard thing to fix. Transfer weight, get my shoulder over my knee, and swing the club. Boom. Hit the longest 3W I think I've ever hit in my life.
From there went to the Heavy. This was a bit of an issue at first. I was not hitting it well at all. Thin shots and low slices. Took some breaths again. Focused on the key points I'm working on and started hitting it much better. Still wasn't really happy with it in terms of consistency, but it was coming along.
Grabbed the driver. Sort of inconsistent with hints of very good. Good swings were really good. Bad swings weren't horrible, but were low and not straight. It's going to take time to get it figured out, but I"m sticking to it. The results from good shots showed me that it's worth it.
Finished with 8 irons and wedges and felt good about everything. Tonight was a victory. Not that everything was good, but it was better than last night, which was very encouraging. I'm not working on difficult things. It's just a matter of making them a habit for me.
My main thoughts that helped tonight were getting my left shoulder over my right knee and keeping my arms a bit closer to my body. When I did both of those things and swung the club freely I had great results. Note I said "swung the club freely" hehe. Manufacturing the swing didn't work at all. If I kept it simple, remembered my two swing thoughts and let the club fly, I hit the ball well. Got to feel that beautiful nothingness that is a good shot.
Day off tomorrow, most likely. Extended range time on Sunday I think.
Started off easy and hit the 8 iron again. It was surprisingly easy to get into a groove and I was hitting many more good shots tonight. Distance was consistent and I was all over the pin I was aiming at.
Moved down from there to my 50° wedge. It took me a few swings to get it right, but I was hitting it an easy 5 yards longer and ball flight was just beautiful. Again, very predictable and get great accuracy.
From there I decided to go to my 6 iron. Hit some leakers to the right at first, which is a normal miss. Took some breaths and practice swings and made sure I was set up correctly. All of a sudden, it just came alive. I was hitting it good. Really good! That's a really good sign, because my consistency with the 6 iron is spotty. My goal is consistency.
Hit the Maruman 3W after that off the turf. I was somewhat amazed that I was hitting it clean almost every time. At first had some swing path/face angle issues, but that wasn't a hard thing to fix. Transfer weight, get my shoulder over my knee, and swing the club. Boom. Hit the longest 3W I think I've ever hit in my life.
From there went to the Heavy. This was a bit of an issue at first. I was not hitting it well at all. Thin shots and low slices. Took some breaths again. Focused on the key points I'm working on and started hitting it much better. Still wasn't really happy with it in terms of consistency, but it was coming along.
Grabbed the driver. Sort of inconsistent with hints of very good. Good swings were really good. Bad swings weren't horrible, but were low and not straight. It's going to take time to get it figured out, but I"m sticking to it. The results from good shots showed me that it's worth it.
Finished with 8 irons and wedges and felt good about everything. Tonight was a victory. Not that everything was good, but it was better than last night, which was very encouraging. I'm not working on difficult things. It's just a matter of making them a habit for me.
My main thoughts that helped tonight were getting my left shoulder over my right knee and keeping my arms a bit closer to my body. When I did both of those things and swung the club freely I had great results. Note I said "swung the club freely" hehe. Manufacturing the swing didn't work at all. If I kept it simple, remembered my two swing thoughts and let the club fly, I hit the ball well. Got to feel that beautiful nothingness that is a good shot.
Day off tomorrow, most likely. Extended range time on Sunday I think.
- Staff
- #520
Thanks, biggsy. It does appear that it is some pretty simple stuff that is holding me back from the next step. Just a matter of getting it to feel normal right now. My goal this year was to get to the mid 80's and we talked about that quite a bit. He said that fixing a few little things would make that a very reachable goal for this year and I'm really hopeful about it. Placing 100% trust in him right now as I think there is no other way to go about it.
coolbreeze
Aspiring Golferr
Just finished reading those last two posts of yours Hawk and that was a great read. Sounds like this pro really has you on the right track, and I`d love to see you in the mid 80`s consistantly very soon. I have no doubt that you will be with how much you love the game, and how hard you work.
You have the desire and the skill, it's very attainable!
- Staff
- #523
I'm dead beat after a three hour practice session today.
Started off by hitting balls with the Vision Track. I wanted to do this in conjunction with some of the things that my instructor told me to help me stay on the right path. If you don't have a Vision Track, you should get one. Bar none the best swing aid I've ever had. I wish I could take it on the course with me.
Started with 8 irons and was hitting them well. Then moved to the driver. I hit another drive that was easily among the two longest I've hit all year. Just a bomb for me and felt really good. The thing about the VT is that you actually hit irons/hybrids with the ball laying on it. I wanted to hit some balls off the grass to make sure I wasn't getting too confident.
[video=youtube;DWAV-Yqekgk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWAV-Yqekgk[/video]
Out of the four shots on video, the only really poor one was number two, which was annoying. I've been incorporating the quick practice swing into my set up routine as a way to feel my shoulder turn and swing path. I rushed and the results showed. I need to stick to the plan I made as things tend to work out better.
Also worked on the longer clubs and they have been more of a struggle than I was hoping. In the end, my best results came from not trying to kill the ball and taking enough time to get myself in position to start a downswing. I like to rush and it never works out. Again, the VT was very helpful and I plan to keep using it. After some time with it, I was hitting hybrids well. Fairways have been pretty good all along. Probably b/c I don't see them the same way I do the hybrids and understand that they take longer to swing.
Last 50 balls were spent 'playing' the course I was at in my mind. It went really well and I was able to hit the ball well switching from club to club. Great way to end the range session.
After a ton of balls at the range, I went to the short game area and hit ball from 30, 60, and 90 yards. 30 was really good, 60 was ok, and 90 was bad. In my defense, I was worn the hell out by the time I hit the 90 yarders. Still, I was pretty disappointed. It seems that the changes to my swing have sort of affected the way I swing my wedges and I'm a bit stuck on them. Going to talk to the instructor about that next time.
Finished up in the practice bunker. 19 of 20 balls on the green and I was beaming. Think I came across something for the sand.
Started off by hitting balls with the Vision Track. I wanted to do this in conjunction with some of the things that my instructor told me to help me stay on the right path. If you don't have a Vision Track, you should get one. Bar none the best swing aid I've ever had. I wish I could take it on the course with me.
Started with 8 irons and was hitting them well. Then moved to the driver. I hit another drive that was easily among the two longest I've hit all year. Just a bomb for me and felt really good. The thing about the VT is that you actually hit irons/hybrids with the ball laying on it. I wanted to hit some balls off the grass to make sure I wasn't getting too confident.
[video=youtube;DWAV-Yqekgk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWAV-Yqekgk[/video]
Out of the four shots on video, the only really poor one was number two, which was annoying. I've been incorporating the quick practice swing into my set up routine as a way to feel my shoulder turn and swing path. I rushed and the results showed. I need to stick to the plan I made as things tend to work out better.
Also worked on the longer clubs and they have been more of a struggle than I was hoping. In the end, my best results came from not trying to kill the ball and taking enough time to get myself in position to start a downswing. I like to rush and it never works out. Again, the VT was very helpful and I plan to keep using it. After some time with it, I was hitting hybrids well. Fairways have been pretty good all along. Probably b/c I don't see them the same way I do the hybrids and understand that they take longer to swing.
Last 50 balls were spent 'playing' the course I was at in my mind. It went really well and I was able to hit the ball well switching from club to club. Great way to end the range session.
After a ton of balls at the range, I went to the short game area and hit ball from 30, 60, and 90 yards. 30 was really good, 60 was ok, and 90 was bad. In my defense, I was worn the hell out by the time I hit the 90 yarders. Still, I was pretty disappointed. It seems that the changes to my swing have sort of affected the way I swing my wedges and I'm a bit stuck on them. Going to talk to the instructor about that next time.
Finished up in the practice bunker. 19 of 20 balls on the green and I was beaming. Think I came across something for the sand.
Tmex
Paul Casey, WINNER!
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2009
- Messages
- 21,982
- Reaction score
- 100
- Location
- Paul Casey's Twitter Page
- Handicap
- RCGA 14.2
- Thread starter
- #524
Can't wait to check out the video when I get a chance Hawk. I love how much work you're putting in dude, it's really inspiring. I keep saying that but it really is.
- Staff
- #525
Thanks, buddy. I'm curious what people think of the swing. It looks a little stiff towards the end and I don't follow through enough, but it's looking better than I thought it would. Still grinding. Going to hit another 100 or so tomorrow. Playing in a scramble this weekend and I'm planning on dressing nice. Have to make sure I can back it up.